OMC: Where did you study, or are you self-taught?

JB: Marycrest International University (MIU) in Davenport, Iowa. The brunt of my education came from videotaping angst- fueled shenanigans in coffee shops, self-built basement animation studios and the guidance of Lane Hall (who currently teaches English at UWM.)

OMC: What neighborhood do you live in these days?

JB: Riverwest representin'! I don't think I'd like to live anywhere else in Milwaukee. Except maybe in a tree house in the domes.

OMC: Are you married?

JB: I am currently engaged to my kindred spirit / brilliant animator / filmmaker / chef Kate Raney. I have a funny little dog named Aldous Huxley.

OMC: Do you have a day job or do you support yourself solely via your art?

JB: Right now, I try and support myself through freelance video work and design the occasional Web site.

OMC: What are you working on right now?

JB: I've been working on this huge, ever-expanding-in-length-and-complexity video project called "Ghost Conversations." It started as one of those, "Hey Jeremy! Do you want to make a video for my band?" sort of projects. Now it's a 10,000-pound buffalo pacing in my basement. It started growing because I started to become infatuated with the mythology I created for it. In order to do the mythology justice, I had to create so much more than what was originally planned for the simple version of the project.

Also, Kate and I are working on a project together based on a recent "Free People" clothing catalogue. The premise of the catalog is so ridiculous we had to comment on it. It "stars" this totally all-American supermodel teen and puts her into some kind of Eastern Indian environment. We took one look at it and thought, "Here comes neo-colonialism masquerading as a fashion catalog." The project is taking shape as a cutout animation using the catalog elements and covert, yet publicly recorded conversations about discontent.

There's also a group video project with The Archaeology of the Recent Future Association and UWM theatre's Locally Grown film series. It's an "exquisite corpse" style project where everyone submits a film or bits of video then re-edits each other's footage and presents it with a live soundtrack.

OMC: What are you most proud of that you've created?

JB: This might sound strange, but I'm most proud of something I haven't done yet. The idea behind that is I'm always interested in what I'm doing now, but also how I'm going to improve on what I'm doing and how the next project will be better.

OMC: You won an Emmy.

JB: The Emmy win was a very proud moment. I'm probably most proud of the fact that after all these years, I have managed to keep my passion for creating motion pictures alive.

OMC: Is Milwaukee a good fit for you and others in your field?

JB: You can make a living here. It is cheap to live here with motion picture skills, but becoming increasingly less so. There are wonderful pockets of creative communities you can network and collaborate with. I've met tons of wonderful, like-minded people here busying away in private on magnificent art. Simply for the love of it. But this isn't an industry town. Unless you are in education or contracted with a corporation, I've found it's a bit of a rat race to pay the bills.

OMC: What are your goals for the future?

JB: Future? As Albert Einstein once wisely said, "I never think of the future -- it comes soon enough."